The weekend here in Mallorca was absolutely glorious. We’ve been settling into warmer temperatures (t-shirt weather), breathing in the luscious scent of almond blossoms, and greedily enjoying blue skies and sunshine sans tourists.

In preparation for her 13 km walk for charity at school, KJ and I took our cameras and went for a leisurely 10 km walk just out of the village, down the mountain, through a few rolling hills, and towards the next town over. It’s probably one of the prettiest trails (in my books) on this island. If it weren’t for the winding asphalt road just alongside the rustic stone lined path and the occasional zippy car, I’d think that I had stumbled straight into a romance-chick-flick, the kind set in the idyllic foreign countryside where the unknowing American gets swept off her feet by some suave guy (yeah, hubby is my suave guy, though these other elements in my story are a bit convoluted).

Passing almond orchard and huge finca along the walk.

Almond trees blossoming.

KJ decides to scale a tree in search of almonds.

After the day hike on Saturday, I woke up famished the next morning and craving pancakes (and fuel for Crossfit WOD 12.3 later… ouch). I reverted back to a recipe that I had tried a few weekends ago for a grain-free yet wonderfully fluffy pancake. That day, the pancakes came out perfect. Today – not so much. They looked, actually, rather terrible and burnt as the stove simply didn’t want to cooperate with me. Fortunately, the disfigured cakes still tasted good – KJ thought even better than the last time – and its ill-fated looks were easily masked by a colorful fresh fruit salad.

KJ suggested that we have breakfast outside. Sunlight was kind to the food and turned out to be rather good for the soul, as we ended up basking in the outdoor warmth, working on art projects and sneaking the occasional snack, until late afternoon.

Combine and mix together dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, salt, flax, and chia seeds. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until smooth, mix in mashed bananas, vanilla, agave, and yogurt. Slowly mix wet ingredients into the dry. I diverged from Nourishing Days recipe by using frothed milk rather than regular milk – with the thinking that some extra air added into the pancake mix would enhance the fluffiness. My Nespresso milk frother, probably one of my all time favorite kitchen gadgets, came in super handy. Once the milk is frothed, gently fold into the mix. If the mixture is too liquid-y (very much dependent on the type of coconut flour used and how finely it is ground), slowly add more coconut flour until the batter thickens. I added about an extra 1/4 cup.

Heat a bit of oil in a non-stick pan over medium-low temperature. Once the pan is hot, ladle a couple of tablespoons of batter into pan. Spread out slightly, if necessary, until the pancake is ~2-3 inches in diameter. Cook for a few minutes, until the edges begin to dry out and the bottoms start to brown. Flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

Top with fruit, yogurt, preserves, honey, whatever the taste buds might crave and enjoy with a side of sunshine!

Since the arrival of our new more-functions-than-I-can-imagine food processor, hubby has been churning out gluten free, Paleo approved muffins like a madman. Yes, he fancies the new heavy machinery. He also fancies the muffins. And the muffins hubby bakes are GOOD. He experiments with ingredient combinations – coconut flour, almond flour, nuts, berries, bananas, apricots, cranberries, strawberries, and even an avocado thrown in; always moist, delicious, the perfect breakfast or afternoon treat alongside a cafe con leche.

It’s been wonderful to be spoiled by someone else baking. However, it’s also meant that I need to step up my game.

Roost’s beautiful “Cranberry & Almond Upside Down Cakes” seemed like the perfect contest entry into our unspoken “bake-off”. I could glean some dried cranberries (in place of the fresh ones the recipe calls for) from my husband’s stash, gather a lemon off the tree, and zest an orange off another (our orange tree yields beautiful smelling yet awful tasting fruit). As another deviation from the original, I added clementine slices to the fruit topping for an additional zing of flavor and also to replace moisture lost with the dried cranberry substitution.

Combine and whisk the dry ingredients for the muffin (flour, salt, baking soda, and spices). In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (eggs, almond butter, and honey). Next, combine wet and dry ingredients, set aside.

Combine and toss all ingredients (except for the clementine wedges) for the fruit topping. Lightly grease muffin tins; place one clementine wedge in the center of each tin. Next, spoon a bit of the cranberry mixture into each tin, dividing the mixture equally. Top each tin with muffin batter, smoothing out the mixture and covering evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are a golden brown.

The name is certainly a mouth full. The urge to bake was upon me and muffins have been calling my name these last few weeks. What is better than a moist berry-filled muffin to accompany our fruit and yogurt breakfast or perhaps have as an afternoon pick me up?

I am not a fan of overly sweet baked goods. I always cut way back on the sugar – this recipe is no exception. For these muffins, I loaded them up with not only lots of fresh blueberries, but blackberries too. In addition to the fruit, I added some poppy seeds for texture and a hint of almond for flavoring. Each bite of these little guys are definitely packed full of goodness.

Since I only had half and half instead of milk in the fridge, I decided a little extra richness was NOT going to hurt the recipe one bit – these muffins did not leave me feeling heavy or weighed down like many other muffins.

Sift together flour and cornstarch 4-5 several times to ensure they are both well incorporated. Measure out 2 tablespoons of flour mixture and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Then add half and half, water, ½ cup sugar, butter, eggs, poppy seeds, and almond extract. Mix together all ingredients just until moistened – lumps in mixture are fine.

In a small bowl combine berries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons flour mixture. Mix together until well coated.

As I shop for my weekly list of superfoods for breakfast, I am well received by warm and friendly smiles and greetings. Many have grown accustomed to seeing me, like my strawberry purveyor – in turn, I reciprocate with a warm hello and ask how he is doing.

After we briefly chat, I ask “Can I get a basket of your sweetest and ripest strawberries?” I like to think he gives me the best basket he’s got. And as an added bonus – he always gives me a handful of extra berries, which always keeps me coming back.

Each and every weekday, Lolo and I begin our mornings with a light and healthy breakfast – it doesn’t leave us feeling heavy and weighed down. It’s the perfect way to start the day. I’m a big proponent of eating well to live better. I suppose Lolo and I are one of the few lucky people who genuinely enjoy eating healthy.

Living in the Los Angeles area, there is always have an abundance of fresh fruits available. Fortunately, I am able to buy our staples on a year-round basis, and toss in seasonal fruit to keep things interesting.

The medley of fruits I usually include: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.

At the moment, the Golden kiwi (yellow fleshed) has recently made its debut. It’s a seasonal fruit, and its end is drawing near.

The flesh is wonderfully sweet, mild and a golden yellow – less tart than the green variety. I think it tastes more tropical. Sadly, I picked up the last few left at the supermarket yesterday. If not, the green kiwi is always available.

Wash all fruits. I usually wash the kiwi too, even though skin is peeled. Cut kiwi and strawberries the same size as other berries, slice blackberries in half or into thirds depending on size of fruit. Chop walnuts.

Like this:

One food, I utterly enjoy to the highest level of satisfaction are SOFT boiled eggs – I like my yolks runny, along side a few paper-thin slices of the velvety, melt in your mouth salt-cured pork, better known as prosciutto di Parma. This is what I consider eating at its finest! It doesn’t take much to keep my tummy and I happy –Lolo never seems to mind either.

For this dish, I always get the freshest eggs possible – salmonella poisoning is not good. I usually pick up eggs on my Sunday trip to the farmers market. These eggs are smaller and more flavorful than the jumbo ones at the supermarket. They are laid by black Silkie chickens. Ah, they are the cutest little birds ever. They make ideal pets because of their temperament. I wish we had a bigger backyard. How great to have a pet and in return get fresh laid eggs – everyday!

Although I serve this course as a starter, by all means, this can hold its own weight as a wonderful Sunday breakfast or brunch. I would just add a bit more prosciutto, another egg, and fresh fruit.

I start by cutting the top off the egg with my nifty little egg cutter. For the first bite, a touch of flaky Maldon sea salt is lightly crumbled atop the egg, as I then quickly plunge in my spoon. Then for my second bite, I tuck a small piece of prosciutto into the exposed pool of yolk and scoop out a bit of everything with a piece of toasted baguette – pure decadence. I have memories of hating yolk when I was young, not really sure how and when things changed. Before I know it – it’s all gone! Normally, I’m a very slow eater (I’m sure most people can attest to this statement). This is one of the only foods that I gobble down faster than Lolo. There’s no sharing here – well… unless I absolutely have to.

Directions:
In a small saucepan, fill with cold water and add teaspoon salt. Gently set eggs in water, cover with lid. Be sure to completely submerge egg in water. Heat pan at medium-high until water comes to a boil. Remove pan from heat with lid on; leave in water for 3 minutes, not any longer than. The white should be firm and yolk runny.

Like this:

It’s been raining continuously for three days now on this little Spanish island. Though Mondays are my market days, I had no desire to battle the elements today. I’ve had enough waging war against a persistent head cold. Indoor and captive, it was time for some further pantry scavenging.

About a week ago and on a whim, I had purchased a bag of quinoa flour. I’ve actually been staring at it for days, wondering what to attempt. It’s a rather small bag, 500 grams, purchased on a trek into the city and during a bit of a shopping spree at Terra Verde – probably the largest natural and organic product store in Palma de Mallorca, though still quaint by U.S. standards. Things that are most likely superbly stocked at any Whole Foods in the States are a hard find in Europe and especially on the island. Thus, I had hoarded the little bag of flour into my shopping basket like a kid in a candy store. So whatever I decided to make needed to be good.

The cold dismal weather begged to be offset with something hearty and warm – pretty next to (in my cold shoo-ing efforts) a mid-afternoon steaming mug of tea. And yes, the arrival of near winter weather had put me in a baking sort of mood.

Pomegranate Quinoa Muffins (yields ~1 dozen)

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/4 pints (2 1/2 cups) quinoa flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 pint (1/2 cup) chopped walnuts

Wet ingredients:

2 ripe bananas

1/4 pint (1/2 cup) walnut oil (vegetable oil also works)

1/4 pint (1/2 cup) honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

seeds of 1 large (or 2 medium sized) pomegranate

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (~300 degrees F) and grease muffin tin(s). Combine all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Using a food processor or blender, combine all wet ingredients, excluding pomegranate seeds.

Next, fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and add in the pomegranate seeds. Divide the dough into each individual muffin tin; unlike gluten based flours, the quinoa flour doesn’t rise very much, so a healthy amount of dough for each muffin is okay. Bake for ~20-30 minutes. The muffins should be lightly browned on top, and done when a toothpick can be inserted and taken out cleanly.

Fruits and nuts can be varied – two lonely pomegranates hugged my fruit basket this afternoon. I also threw in 3 tablespoons of chia seeds (high in omega-3s) for good measure. Moreover, if additional sweetness is desired, increase the amount of honey by another 1/4 pint (1/2 cup). I tend to add sweetness after the fact – a drizzle of honey or a good dollop of thick jam. Especially with the extreme nuttiness of the quinoa, this worked well.

I really liked using the quinoa flour. My previous attempts at a gluten-free muffin featured almond flour. However, the almond flour required more eggs to give it a muffin-like texture and still turned out a bit overly mealy.

After a bit of online nerding, some added notes regarding the use of quinoa as a white/wheat flour substitution:

reduce cooking time

reduce cooking temperature

increase amount of moisture and/or binding agents

can be combined with other types of flour – gluten/non-gluten based

Looking forward to another experiment… when the rain stops and shopping resumes.

Waking up to a cold, wet and gloomy Saturday called for a sweet and toasty breakfast.

These days, being sometimes a bit paleo and sometimes a bit not, warm homemade breakfast bars have become a new staple in our household. They’ve replaced the muesli we used to hoard (my hubby is German, ja!), and are delicious atop a big bowl of thick Greek yogurt. For baking, I’ve even optimized a mini assembly line as our pantry now holds each of the necessary ingredients in separate airtight OXO containers, rectangular of course for the German. Seven minutes prep time, 15 minutes bake time… seriously.

The bars are gluten and processed-grain free, only using nuts, seeds, and fruit as the showcase ingredients. And even these can be varied from the basics – pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, pistachios, flax seeds, chia seeds, and raisins, for example. The only requirements are the eggs to bind it all together, and a banana or honey for a bit of moisture and sweetness. The dates also add a nice chewy texture.

As an extra treat, and inspired by the Girl and Her Carrot’s Deconstructed Apple Pie, for today’s breakfast I baked a couple of apples sprinkled with cinnamon to add to the yogurt/bar combo. The warm, sweet apples got a huge two thumbs up from hubby.

Alongside a hot cup of coffee and opera boldy flowing through the house, the rainy day seemed off to a pretty good start.

Breakfast Bars (makes 1 dozen)

Ingredients:

1/2 pint (1 cup) chopped walnuts

1/2 pint (1 cup) chopped almonds

1/2 pint (1 cup) shredded coconut

10-12 pitted and chopped Medjool dates

1 banana

2 eggs

optional 1/8 pint (1/4 cup) honey

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (~300 degrees F). Combine all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. If starting with whole nuts and dates, use a food processor to blend/chop at a medium speed setting. Also using the food processor, blend banana, eggs, and (if desired) honey. Usually, I opt to skip the honey, finding that the banana and dates alone provide plenty of sweetness. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing well.

Next, grease either a rectangular baking pan or muffin tin with a bit of oil or butter (I used walnut oil). At this point, I use two silicone muffin trays, each with six molds, to yield a nice dozen; I’ve found it easier to make little muffins rather than cutting through a larger and crumblier rectangular piece later. Fill and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Though best warm, the breakfast bars can be kept refrigerated for up to a week. Reheat in the oven right before eating for some added crunch and toasty goodness.